Equatorial Guinea indefinitely suspends radio program

New York, October 23, 2012--Authorities in Equatorial
Guinea indefinitely suspended a radio program on a government-controlled outlet
during a broadcast on Friday that included criticism of the president of the Supreme
Court, according to local journalists and news reports.

The show, "Cultura En Casa," which covered local
social issues and aired three times a week on RTVGE, was
stopped at around 9:15 a.m. on Friday on the order of Benjamin
Mangue Micha, assistant director of the station, according to local journalists.
Local news blogMalabo
News quoted Micha as saying that the censorship order came from above,
and that no official written decision existed. Studio technicians replaced the
interview with the show's jingle, local journalists said.

The show was broadcasting an interview with Teresa
Mbasogo, a guest who had asked to speak on the air as a representative of 18
families seeking justice for the arbitrary demolition of their homes and
confiscation of their land in Bata, the economic capital, in November 2011,
according to news reports. Mbasogo had criticized Chief Justice Martin Ndgong
Nsue in the interview for his alleged personal involvement in the dispute.

"Cultura En Casa" did not air Monday as
scheduled, local journalists said.

"Silencing 'Cultura En Casa'
for its interview with an aggrieved citizen is an affront to all people's
right to receive and impart information," said CPJ Africa Advocacy Coordinator
Mohamed Keita. "President Teodoro Obiang trumpets his government's supposed
strides on human rights, but this act of censorship reflects a determination to
quash those rights. We call on the government to allow 'Cultura En Casa' to
resume broadcasting immediately."

CPJ ranked Equatorial Guinea
fifth on its Most
Censored Countries list. Obiang's government tightly monitors and controls
national airwaves in Equatorial Guinea, according to CPJ research. Government
censors enforce rules that ensure the regime is portrayed positively;
journalists who don't comply risk prison under criminal statutes that include
defamation. The president's administration has dictated that state media praise
him and refrain from covering political abroad.